There’s a lot of news in the creator economy. Each week, we handpick a selection of stories to give you a snapshot of trends, updates, business moves, and more from around the industry. Brace yourselves: This week, both Paul brothers are in the news.
Creator commotion
Logan Paul, KSI, and MrBeast are beefing with creators over Lunchly. The trio’s Lunchables competitor combines their Feastables and Prime Hydration brands under one roof. Creators like DanTDM have questions about the health content of Lunchly’s products. Are the lunchboxes actually good for you, or is Lunchly an attempt to make a quick buck off fans who many not know better? Paul says the brand’s detractors are idiots. What else is new?
Jake Paul says influencer boxing is “dying out.” The younger Paul brother told the Daily Mail that “sloppy” matchmaking and poor-quality matchmaking have doomed a scene that was once the talk of the internet. If influencer boxing is dying, no one told Ibai. Also, Jake Paul didn’t bad-mouth the trend until after he took his first L. Interesting timing there.
Subscribe for daily Tubefilter Top Stories
Gabbie Hanna is reflecting on her past. The one-time Vine star drew widespread concern after suffering a public manic episode two years ago. She’s in a better place now, but she has some regrets about the way her career unfolded. In a 17-minute apology video, she said she was a “bad role model” but wants to “do better” as she returns to her channel. “God humbled me and taught me empathy,” she said.
Pop culture minute
Welcome to the Billboard Hot 100, Addison Rae. The fifth-most followed personality on TikTok is proving that she can be a dual threat. The name of her first charting song is “Diet Pepsi.” If she comes back with a sequel called “Vanilla Coke,” I bet she could crack the top ten.
Hot Ones to Netflix? Per Bloomberg, BuzzFeed is mulling a deal to let the streamer distribute live episodes of Sean Evans’ spicy interview series. The Emmys don’t seem to respect YouTube-based fare, so showss with Emmy aspirations — like Hot Ones — are now moving to platforms the TV Academy does respect.
This is why film studios are giving the reins to creators. A study from Casino Alpha claims that Talk To Me is far and away the most-searched horror movie based on average Google volume. The horror flick came from the fraternal YouTube duo known as RackaRacka. For those who haven’t seen Talk To Me, be warned: It may make you rethink your feelings about handshakes.
Politics as usual
Trump’s would-be assassin was in a JiDion video back in the day. The man who attempted to attack the former president at Mar-a-Lago shared extreme ideas during an interview with the popular streamer. Be careful who you collab with, unless you want to end up on an FBI watch list.
The U.S. government has presented some interesting documents in the case of TikTok v. Garland. A previously classified transcript was revealed in court, and it seems to suggest that the lawmakers trying to ban TikTok know that the platform facilitates speech that is protected by the First Amendment. That argument defeated the attempted TikTok ban in Montana. Will the federal statute face the same fate?
Did you fill out your Trump bracket? TYT (also known as The Young Turks) is pitting Trumpian gaffes against one another in a March Madness-style bracket. In an upset, I have covfefe winning the whole thing.
Ad buyer’s corner
Brands do not want you to associate them with the whole “they’re eating the pets” thing. Companies like Mazda are concerned about their ads appearing next to right-wing conspiracies. It seems like this sort of controversy pops up less often than it used to, but YouTube is still figuring out how to draw and enforce a line when it comes to “advertiser-friendly” videos.
X is the ad world’s clingy ex — but that approach might be working. Per Digiday, 80 marketers showed up for one of X’s client council sessions in New York. The platform formerly known as Twitter has plenty of ad products, and brands aren’t ready to break up with it just yet.
India’s top court is flooded with crypto ads in suspected hack. Powerful institutions are still struggling with basic security on social media.
The internet is a strange place
TikTok is causing chaos at the airport. A trend on the app invited users to replace their passport photos with more attractive looks. But feeling cute doesn’t mean much when airport scanners think you’re an imposter. This is why I do not participate in TikTok trends. (Except one: I too like to think about the Roman Empire.)
Every star streamer begins with zero views. The internet enjoyed this clip of streamer TrueAlphaSteve, who fell asleep while broadcasting the fighting game Tekken to literally nobody. As you might expect, he’s picked up a few followers since then.
Uncle Roger enters Guinness Book of World Records by gathering 388 people dressed like him. Nothing to say here other than a hearty “Fuiyoh!“
